


Late Nights, Long Walks

by yuuhi



Category: AB6IX (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-13 12:07:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20173987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuuhi/pseuds/yuuhi
Summary: Walking home alone late at night makes Woong anxious, so Donghyun decides to walk home with him.





	Late Nights, Long Walks

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a prompt.
> 
> This was just supposed to be a lighthearted writing exercise under 1k, but here we are... Still lighthearted, just not 1k haha.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Woong checks his phone with a sigh. It’s already almost eight and Youngmin isn’t here yet. Of course he’s late. Woong glances out the doors to the building. It’s already dark outside. He chews his lip. He hates walking home by himself at night. It scares him, honestly. He swears he’d been followed twice, and another time he’d been chased and harassed by a bunch of drunk frat boys. And to be frank, Woong isn't the biggest fan of the dark in the first place. Sure, he doesn’t live all that far from campus, but he lives near the frat houses, so it’s still an all-around unpleasant experience that he’d rather avoid if he can help it. So when Youngmin had found out about Woong’s fears last semester, he’d offered to give Woong a ride home if he’d ever needed one. And as luck would have it, Woong had realized only after registering for classes that he hadn’t actually cleared a gen ed requirement like he’d thought, so the only available section left had been the one that ends at 8:10. The worst section at the worst possible time. But Youngmin had made good on his promise, and he dutifully drives Woong home every Friday night.

Except tonight, apparently.

Woong jiggles his leg and chews his nail nervously, his eyes darting toward the door every so often. Most people in the building have trickled out by now, so the halls are quiet. It’s a little creepy, to be honest. Woong has half a mind to relocate to the student center or the library (both are under three minutes from his building and accessible by well-lit paths) and just text Youngmin to get him from there, but he’s startled out of his thoughts by someone’s calling his name. He looks up from his phone with a frown and then raises his eyebrows. It’s Donghyun.

“What are you doing here?” Woong asks in surprise.  
Donghyun drops down beside Woong on the bench with a shrug. “Class _always_ goes over. Then we all kinda hang around a chat for a bit, and they’re all going out, but I was just gonna get something from the Hub.”  
“I didn’t know you had a class this late or in this building,” Woong says, tilting his head with a smile. “Youngmin takes me home usually; he could probably take you home too.”  
Donghyun yawns. “Nah, wouldn’t want to make you guys wait every week.” He pauses. “You said usually?”  
“He’s late.” Woong sighs. “And not checking his phone, apparently.”  
They’re both quiet for a moment.  
“You don’t live too far, right?” Donghyun asks. “I feel like you said you walk to campus before.”  
“I do,” Woong says slowly, “but I don’t like walking alone at night.”

He can feel his cheeks start to color. It feels almost childish to admit it, somehow. But Donghyun doesn’t seem to care much. He nods, thoughtful, his fingers drumming absently on his thigh. “I can walk you home if you want?” Donghyun offers after a minute. He glances sidelong at Woong, his expression almost hesitant. Woong’s brain immediately starts to revolt. “Oh, no, that’s okay, you don’t have to, Youngmin will come soon I’m sure, I’m just being dumb—” Woong babbles. He doesn’t want to impose, of course—that’s part of it—but he also doesn’t want Donghyun to think any less of him for being afraid of something so silly because he's quite fond of Donghyun (and in ways beyond the platonic). But Donghyun sits up straight with a small frown. “Hey, no, I don’t think it’s dumb,” Donghyun interrupts. “Friday nights on this side of town aren’t exactly pleasant.” Woong avoids Donghyun’s eyes, and fiddles with his phone, his cheeks and ears hot. Donghyun bumps his shoulder. He asks if Woong lives in the complex behind the drug store across from frat row, and when Woong nods, Donghyun hops to his feet.

“All right, let’s go.”

Woong starts to protest again, but Donghyun shakes his head, insists it’s on his way home anyway, and that’s how Woong finds himself walking toward his apartment with Donghyun. It's nice, actually. Woong has always enjoyed Donghyun’s company, and they banter back and forth the whole way back to Woong’s place. Woong is in such good spirits that he barely feels the time pass before they're suddenly standing outside his building. It's odd—Woong is fine enough on his rides home in Youngmin’s car, but he still feels a sort of quiet anxiety in the dark car with the streetlights and dim outlines of people and buildings rushing by. He's never really been good in the dark without something to distract him, and even though Youngmin will play music or chat with him, it's never quite enough to keep Woong from gazing out the window and feeling like the night will smother him. But walking keeps his body moving, which helps with his nerves, and Donghyun’s low, smooth voice and soft laughter wrap around Woong like a warm blanket, keeping the cold and the dark at bay. He feels oddly refreshed considering he'd spent all day on campus and had just had to sit through a three-hour class on a Friday night with a bunch of underclassmen who barely have enough motivation to get themselves back home.

“Thanks,” Woong says with a gentle smile when they stop in front of his building. “Sorry for inconveniencing you.”  
Donghyun rolls his eyes. “Stop _saying_ that.”  
“I mean, you wanted to go get food from the Hub.”  
“Nah,” Donghyun says with a wave of his hand, “I've got food in the fridge I should eat anyway. Really, you saved me from throwing away six bucks on a mediocre sandwich I don't even actually need.”  
Woong laughs. “Right. Well, thanks again, for real.”  
“Sure thing, man, no problem.”

Woong hugs Donghyun before they part, and he again feels that same security and warmth. He gives Donghyun a little wave and then heads up the stairs, and as he's walking toward his unit, he glances back over his shoulder to see Donghyun still standing on the street, gazing up at him. He must be waiting to make sure Woong gets inside safely. Donghyun waves again, and Woong waves back as he lets himself in, and he can feel himself flush. Youngmin never waits for Woong to go inside before he leaves. It’s a sweet gesture, and it puts the final touch on an unexpectedly pleasant experience. Woong feels better than he has in a long time, and he hums to himself as he moves around the kitchen to cook himself some dinner, his mind drifting between the warmth of Donghyun’s comforting presence and the warmth of his comforting embrace. “What’s got you all smiley?” his roommate asks while Woong drains his pasta. Woong shrugs half-heartedly and mutters it had just been a good day. He thinks it would be ridiculous to confess that walking home hadn’t made him as anxious as usual (that it makes him anxious at _all_) to someone he barely knows. (He’d transferred to this university partway through last year and signed a lease for an apartment this year before he’d made any real friends, so he’d gotten stuck with a random roommate. His roommate is tolerable enough, but certainly not one of Woong’s closest friends.) “Glad to hear it, bro,” says his roommate before he heads for his room. Woong sighs and takes his plate to his own room to watch Netflix while he eats.

Halfway through his drama episode, he gets a text from Donghyun with a picture of him eating some sort of chicken salad.

_Would probably be wilting by tomorrow… So I have to say thanks again lol_

Woong smiles to himself.

_I guess we’re even now,,, hehe ^^_

Donghyun sends back a few grinning emoji, and Woong feels warm and relaxed again. (At least until Youngmin finally texts back sometime later, blubbering about having fallen asleep and that he's sorry. Woong dutifully ignores him.)

***

It’s Wednesday, and Woong and Youngmin are walking across the courtyard toward the Hub. Youngmin had promised to buy Woong lunch to make up for his gaffe on Friday, and even though Woong had told him it was fine, Youngmin had insisted. And Woong isn't about to refuse free food.

“Oh, by the way,” Youngmin says suddenly, bumping Woong’s elbow with his own, “I can't pick you up for the next month.”  
Woong stops short. The next _month?_ “What, why?”  
“My coworker got sick so we had to switch shifts around this week and next, and the weekend after that is my cousin’s wedding, and the weekend after _that_ is my mom’s birthday.”  
Woong folds his arms protectively across his chest and starts walking again slowly. “You got stuck with Friday night shifts?”  
“Just how it goes sometimes, man,” Youngmin says apologetically. “Schedules are already tight since they work around our classes. Not much wiggle room.”  
“What are we wiggling?”

Woojin appears between them, throwing an arm around each of their shoulders. He's grinning wildly, eyes glinting, and Woong can't help but smile. He loves Woojin’s energy. 

“Wiggling on Friday night, are we?” Woojin says, waggling his eyebrows. “Sounds like a good time, count me in.”  
“No wiggling,” Youngmin says with a snort. “I've got work.”  
“Oh.” Woojin lets his arms slide down his friends’ backs and squeezes between them just as Donghyun comes up on Woong’s other side.  
“Woojin just freaking _dipped,_” he says. “Knew it had to be you guys.”  
“We’re not wiggling on Friday night,” Woojin says in mock-sadness.  
Donghyun raises his eyebrows. “Right.”  
“I was just telling Woong I can't drive him home for a few weeks, and Woojin managed to focus on all the wrong words.”

Woojin complains, offended by the notion he ever focuses on anything but the right words, and Woong watches Youngmin and Woojin bicker with a fond smile. He doesn't notice Donghyun’s thoughtful frown or the way Donghyun keeps shooting glances at him across the table during lunch.

***

It's Friday night now, and Woong is fumbling through his backpack trying to find his headphones and his keys. He'd been taught the key knife trick by one of his friends after the frat boy incident so that he could fend off any other drunkards who try to approach him. And he won't put his headphones in, but he can't just have the nighttime sounds surrounding him like that, so his compromise is one bud loose in his ear with the volume down low. He knows it isn't the smartest move, but he still needs some sort of distraction or he’ll work himself into a frenzy. He finally manages to pull his headphones out from the bottom of his bag, and he's just gotten ahold of his keys when someone taps him on the shoulder. He yelps in surprise and whips around, brandishing his key like a knife, and comes face to face with Donghyun. Donghyun is holding his hands up in surrender, his eyes wide, but he's laughing.

“Yo, man, it's just me.”  
Woong slowly lowers his arm. “You scared me,” he says with a pout. “What are you even doing here? I thought you said your class always goes over.”  
“Yeah, usually, but we got out on time today.”  
Woong bites his lip. “And you're here to…?” He trails off, not wanting to say what he hopes is true.  
“To walk you home. No reason we can't go home together.”

He's grinning at Woong, and Woong feels his heart flutter. He’d be lying if he said he weren’t looking forward to feeling that warmth and security that walking with Donghyun had left him with before. In fact, he’d spent the past several days quashing the hope in his heart that Donghyun might volunteer to do exactly what he’s just done. But just like before, Woong doesn’t want to impose, doesn’t want to seem too hopeful, doesn’t want his feelings and his fears to be pushed onto someone he cares a lot about. “You okay?” Woong blinks. Donghyun is frowning slightly in concern now, and Woong realizes he hasn’t said anything. His cheeks redden, and he clears his throat. “Yeah, sorry, let’s—yeah, let’s go.” Donghyun grins again and takes a few steps forward, waiting for Woong to shove his keys and headphones back into his backpack. 

“So were you gonna try to fight all the drunks with your keys or what?” Donghyun asks with a snicker. Woong’s flush deepens.  
“Shut up, the key knife is a thing. It makes me feel better.”  
Donghyun bumps Woong’s shoulder. “Sorry, sorry, I shouldn’t joke because—but just, the visual of you glaring at me with the key—sorry.”  
“No, you’re fine, you’re fine,” Woong says, and he can’t stop himself from smiling a little. He’s already feeling more relaxed, and more safe, and more warm.

***

Donghyun walks home with Woong all four times that Youngmin can’t drive him, and every time Woong just feels so at peace. He feels good after walking home with Donghyun, of course, but that contentedness spills over into other parts of his life too. He finds that his classes are starting to stress him out a bit less, and all his fears about fitting in at his new university that have plagued him since last year are finally starting to lift. And then of course there’s the added bonus of chatting and texting more with Donghyun. He’d been one of Woong’s first friends when he’d gotten here, and they’d always talked, but these Friday night walks had unlocked some sort of door, and now Woong hardly ever finds himself without Donghyun’s company. It’s nice to feel cared for, and it’s even nice to indulge his little crush. All of it makes Woong happy in ways he hasn’t been in months.

At least until the fifth week, when classes are canceled Thursday and Friday because of national holidays. They all go out to dinner downtown on Friday night to celebrate the break, and afterward Youngmin drives them home. 

“So I guess I’m first, and then Donghyun and Woojin,” Woong says absently as he slides into the backseat.  
Youngmin raises his eyebrows at Woong through the rearview mirror. “What are you talking about? Donghyun and Woojin live near downtown, over by the art building. They’re first.”  
“I still called shotgun,” Woojin says quickly as he swivels around to glare at Woong.

Woong’s jaw drops open in surprise. He looks at Donghyun, who is doing his best to avoid Woong’s gaze. He seems sheepish. If Donghyun and Woojin really live near downtown, that would mean that Woong lives in the complete opposite direction. Donghyun has been saying this whole time that Woong lives on his way home so it’s no big deal to walk with him, but in reality he lives all the way across campus. He’s been going at least thirty minutes out of his way just to walk Woong home. Woong is a little embarrassed, but mostly he’s just confused. He’d rationalized Donghyun’s actions as simple kindness, but now he isn’t entirely sure what to make of it. Woojin is looking between Donghyun and Woong now, squinting suspiciously at them. But then his eyebrows shoot up as comprehension dawns on him.

“Wait a minute, Donghyun, is this—”  
“Just drop it, Woojin.”

And from his tone, everyone can tell that Donghyun isn’t playing around, so Woojin drops it. The atmosphere in the car is only awkward for another few seconds before Youngmin puts on some music and then promptly starts bickering with Woojin about what to play. Woojin and Donghyun get dropped off a few minutes later, and Woong watches Donghyun and Woojin shove at each other as they walk toward their building. Youngmin parks so that he can back out and go in the other direction. “You wanna sit up front?” he asks, and Woong wordlessly clambers from the backseat to the front. They drive in silence (other than the music, which Youngmin had eventually allowed Woojin to pick) for several minutes before Youngmin glances at Woong and sighs.

“You wanna tell me what all that was about?”  
“What all what was about?” Woong asks, but he can’t hide the way his voice comes out too high or the way his ears start to redden.  
“You know what I mean.”  
Woong rubs his eyes. “When you didn’t come that time, I ran into Donghyun, and he ended up walking me home. He walked me home all last month, too, and the whole time he said it was fine because my place was on his way.”  
“Ah,” Youngmin says. “So that’s why you thought he lived by you.”  
“Yeah, and the fact he went so far out of his way… I just don’t get it.”  
“You don’t?” Youngmin sounds doubtful. “You really don’t?”  
Woong chews his lip. “Don’t laugh, but he made me feel really safe. And talking to him so much these days has made me really happy. I just don’t want to assume anything, you know? Just because of how I feel.”  
“The guy literally did an extra forty minutes of walking just to make sure you got home safe. I think you can make a couple pretty fair assumptions,” Youngmin says with a laugh, and Woong smiles a little.  
“Maybe,” he says. He doesn’t want to go there just yet.  
Youngmin rolls to a stop outside Woong’s apartment building, and then he leans over and squeezes Woong’s shoulder. “Just talk to him about it.”  
“Maybe,” Woong says again. “Thanks for the ride.”

He lets himself out of the car before Youngmin can say anything else and escapes to his apartment where he can overthink in peace.

***

Woong wakes up late the next morning to a text from Donghyun. _Hey are you free at all today??_ He frowns at the message and then checks the time again. He hasn’t worked at all on a paper he really needs to finish this weekend, and he’s behind on the readings he needs to do for a class. He’d planned on going to the library and shutting himself up in a study room, but with the way the whole actually-living-in-opposite-directions thing had gone down last night, Woong thinks he should probably talk to Donghyun about it. Youngmin is right. And even though Woong still isn’t about to get his hopes up, there are only so many reasons why Donghyun would have gone so far out of his way to take Woong home. Woong stares at the message for a moment longer, and then he types a response.

_Yeah I can meet around 12_

_Sweet grab coffee in the Hub?_

_Sure ^^_

_Ok meet you there_

Woong drops his phone beside him on the bed and sighs.

***

Woong spots Donghyun lurking by a column near the coffee shop. He seems almost nervous, but he grins in relief and makes a beeline for Woong when he notices Woong heading toward him. “Hey,” he says, and he bumps Woong’s shoulder. “Thanks.” Woong just smiles.

They each order some coffee, and Donghyun leads them to a small table off in a corner. There are barely any people around because it's Saturday and a holiday weekend (so a lot of people have gone home), but Donghyun still seems to think they need privacy. It's cute, somehow. They sit, and Donghyun frowns at his cup, his cheeks pink.

“Are you mad I lied to you?” he asks.  
“What? No, of course not,” Woong says, surprised. He wouldn’t really even consider it a lie. “Just sort of confused?”  
“I thought you wouldn't let me walk with you if you knew I lived in the opposite direction.”  
“Well, I wouldn't have,” Woong says flatly. “Even if you aren't as sca—as—as bothered by walking alone as me, it still isn't fair to you to have to walk so far when it's so late.”  
Donghyun clucks his tongue. “It's really no big deal, and I...” he trails off and stares hard at his cup before looking back up at Woong resolutely. “I wanted to walk with you.”  
“Did you?” Woong asks softly. His heart flutters.  
“I wanted to spend time with you,” Donghyun says in a lower voice.  
“Did you?” Woong says again, and this time his voice is shy.  
Donghyun nudges Woong’s foot with his under the table. “And I’d like to more often, maybe? If you want to, I mean.”  
“Yeah,” Woong says quickly, “I would like that. I can’t really explain it, but you made me feel so at ease.”  
Donghyun beams. “I did?”  
“Yeah, and, you know… I like hanging out with you anyway.”  
They stare at each other, and it’s Woong who looks away first.  
“You gonna make me say it?” Donghyun asks after a beat. Woong kicks him.  
“Yes, Donghyun, I’ll go out with you,” he says, and when the biggest grin spreads across Donghyun’s face, Woong can’t help but smile too.

***

Donghyun still walks Woong home (though occasionally Youngmin picks them both up), but now Woong makes Donghyun stay over instead of walking all the way back to the other side of campus. He’s less anxious now about everything—being alone, the dark, his grades, his friends—than he’s ever been, and he’s never been happier. “Aren’t you glad I fell asleep and didn’t come get you that time?” Youngmin asks him out of the blue a few months later. Woong scoffs and smacks him, but it would be a lie to say that Woong isn’t (at least a little bit, in some weird way) thankful. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!!
> 
> Based on the prompt: "I get stuck with a late class that doesn't end until 9pm and I'm always anxious about walking across campus to the dorms, so you offer to walk with me, and one night I find out that it's in the exact opposite direction that you need to go in"


End file.
